April 22, 2025 • 29 mins
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V I D E O SÂ Â T OÂ Â W A T C HÂ Â N E X T :
Online Business Tips to Working and Traveling In Mexico: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGH0voCyOc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j&index=2
Moving to Mexico: 10 Reasons Why We Chose to Live in Guadalajara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK23vD8_xjc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_LAY7UV78YMgms-f2e1UcwN&index=23
Tips for Moving Overseas: Top 5 Remote Work Skills That Make Money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzjCrlNAL8&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Justin Keltner (00:00):
Vietnam is a country that's making a lot of
(00:02):
buzz in the expat spaces.
The city of Da Nang, a favoriteamong expats, has seen
tremendous growth in the lastcouple of years, and was even
featured in 2024 as one of thetop places to visit by Conde
Nast.
There was just one slightproblem.
It was almost impossible to getresidency.
Expats would have to do visaruns every 90 days, which can
(00:23):
get very complicated andexpensive, and the visas that
they had available forinvestment were actually quite
restrictive in comparison towhat neighboring countries were
offering.
Well, it seems that Vietnam islooking to make some changes to
their immigration system.
And they just proposed a newgolden visa that would actually
give you residency.
(00:43):
Welcome to Entrepreneur Expat.
I'm Amanda.
This is Justin.
And on this channel we talkabout being digital nomads,
investing internationally,international real estate visas,
residencies, global citizenship,and making money from anywhere
in the world.
So if that's something thatyou're interested in, make sure
to subscribe and hit thenotification bell so you don't
miss a single video that we havecoming out on this channel.
(01:05):
We have several videos comingout a week.
To keep you up to date on allthe things going on all around
the world.
And also make sure to give thisvideo a like, because we have a
mission to get in front of 1million entrepreneur expats or
aspiring expats.
And if you're looking to getpersonalized support on your
moving abroad journey.
Then just go to entrepreneurexpat.com/consult and you can
(01:28):
talk with Amanda or myself or amember of our team one-on-one,
talk about the challenges thatyou're facing, whether it comes
to residency, tax planning, thelogistics of moving abroad, all
those different things we haveyou covered.
And we've got a team ofinternational experts all around
the world that help with thetaxes, the immigration, and
everything else.
So.
You can getthat@entrepreneurexpat.com slash
(01:50):
consult.
There's gonna be all theinformation that you need to
schedule that call with us.
So here is what's happening withVietnam, which I find very
interesting because, um,actually a lot of our commenters
and subscribers, a last week onsome of our videos, we're
bringing up Vietnam as anoption.
And a lot of people were saying,yeah, you know, I would love to
do Vietnam as an option inSoutheast Asia, but I don't want
(02:13):
to do those Visa runs, well, itseems that Vietnam, I don't know
if they're paying attention toall our YouTube comments in the
expat spaces, but it does seemthat Vietnam is seeing an
opportunity to really grow thecountry.
And one of the ways in whichthey want to do it is they want
more long-term tourists.
They want more.
Residents, uh, they want morereturning travelers and also
(02:36):
they want a lot of foreigninvestment to get pumped into
their economy.
They're seeing countries likeMalaysia, uh, and Thailand and
Indonesia really starting togrow very quickly in the region,
and they're realizing, whoa, weneed to compete.
So it seems that the minister ofthe tourism board in Vietnam
(02:58):
made a suggestion to the PrimeMinister proposing some new
visas that would allow people toget a long-term residency visa
in Vietnam, uh, make it a littlebit more flexible than what they
previously had available.
And in addition to that, bring alot of foreign investment into
(03:18):
the country.
And the idea is they're gonnapilot it in the major cities
like Hanoi and Ang Ong, Ang, noone knows how to pronounce it.
Vietnam.
Vietnam is hard.
Something like that.
Danang.
That Danang.
I went down a lot of rabbitholes about Vietnam.
Yeah, we, we tried to get thepronunciation right.
We tried, and I, I, the, the,the complicated thing about
(03:39):
Vietnamese, there's a little,little sidebar, I mean.
We learned Spanish prettyeasily.
I learned it in my three yearsof living in Columbia.
But Spanish and English, interms of like the pronunciation,
I mean, it's phonetic and it'srelatively easy to get, uh, at
least the pronunciation if you,if you learn English.
But Vietnamese in terms of allthe different, it's, it's
similar to, to, to Chinese andthe fact that there's different.
(04:01):
Uh, same kind of word writtenout, but just a different accent
mark.
And it's a totally differentpronunciation.
So we're still looking into, uh,maybe maybe learning a little
bit of Vietnamese now becausemaybe we'll be going, uh, to
Southeast Asia very soon and,and making a stop in, in Danang,
uh, as, as one of our, one ofour first stops.
Yeah, it definitely seems likeit's growing very quickly.
(04:22):
So what is, what are the visasthat they actually proposed?
And when we say proposed, noneof this stuff is.
For certain, yet we don't evenhave numbers.
So some of the numbers thatwe're gonna be giving you is
just total speculation based onwhat's going on in the
surrounding area.
Because at this point it's justa proposal and we don't know how
(04:43):
quickly they're gonna move onthis.
So here are the three Visaoptions that Vietnam is
proposing.
The first one is a 10 yeargolden visa, and this is for
serious investors, entrepreneursplanning a long-term stay in
Vietnam.
After that, you have the 10 yearinvestor visa.
This one gives you the abilityto become a permanent resident
(05:03):
after five years.
And it's very similar to thefirst in that it's for investors
looking to establish a long-termpresence in the country.
And now we don't really know,like Amanda said, all of the
specifics because this is stillreally like underground.
They haven't come out with thenumbers, they haven't finalized
any of this.
Uh, this is just what we'rehearing in terms of what is in
(05:25):
the works there.
So maybe they're, they're gonnarelease this.
In the next year or two, but we,we can't know for sure until it
actually happens.
Now, the third type of visa thatthey have is the special talent
visa, and this one is targetinghighly skilled professionals
that can enhance the workforcethere in Vietnam.
And like we said, we don't knowexactly what the numbers yet.
(05:46):
But most likely, from what we'veheard through the grapevine,
it's probably going to be a sixfigure investment to be able to
get these kinds of visas.
These are for people that havegot a lot of income and or a lot
of savings and.
Just are really frustrated withall the, the tourist runs, like
the border runs that they haveto make to neighbor neighboring
(06:07):
countries like Thailand orCambodia in order to renew that
90 day tourist visa that theyget on arrival.
So if you're wealthy and youwant to have just more certainty
and security in terms of yourstay in the country, maybe gain
a return on your investment aswell by investing in the
country, which is growing veryrapidly than these types of
visas will be.
(06:28):
For you.
One plausible scenario thatpeople were talking about is,
let's say for example, you dothe investor visa and then
they're like, okay, well you caninvest in real estate and then
we'll give you the residencybased on the numbers going on in
neighboring countries likeThailand, Indonesia, and
Malaysia.
They're saying Vietnam.
We might be looking at aninvestment of, for example,
(06:48):
$150,000.
In real estate and then thatwould get you the residency.
But of course we, we don't know.
And what happens in emergingcountries sometimes is like
either they can move veryquickly on things or they can
take forever.
So depending on how much money'son the table and who's asking
Exactly.
Uh, and one of the things that'sgoing on with Vietnam, I think
(07:10):
they're realizing that there's alot of money, uh, on the table.
And I know there's a lot ofdebate in Vietnam, in Mexico, in
Portugal, in a lot of countries.
Saying, okay, well now thecountry's gonna get inundated
with foreigners.
And it seems that most of thegovernments in these countries
want the foreigners because thatbrings in a lot of, uh,
investment into the country.
So the downside is that itwould, uh, bring the housing
(07:33):
costs up because it's a simplesupply and demand issue at the
end of the day.
And we are seeing that happen inVietnam with more foreigners
going there.
But the upside is that there'smore money circulating in the
economy, which means more jobs.
Uh, in Vietnam for theVietnamese people.
So a lot of these governmentsare realizing, wow, if I really
wanna compete on this globalstage, uh, I gotta get really
(07:55):
competitive with what's going onwith these residencies, these
visas, who I'm allowing in, uh,what the requirements are, so on
and so forth.
So it seems that Vietnam'sjoining the game.
Yeah, and I'll, I'll speculatetoo and say that because they're
a socialist country, I mean, tosome extent communists, but they
call themselves a socialist.
Uh, a socialist country andtypically in countries like
(08:18):
that, they tend to be a littlebit, uh, a little bit slower to
embrace foreign investment to,to embrace foreign cultures
coming in and, and potentiallylike affecting their people or
their beliefs because the statewants to have a, a certain
degree of.
Uh, shall we say, control orauthority?
Now, on the flip side of that,Vietnamese people tend to be
(08:38):
very welcoming to Westerners.
Um, also very welcoming, like totheir belief system.
And I think the key for theVietnamese government is really
to balance.
Unwarranted foreign influence,if you will, to all of the
potential for making money thatthey have by bringing in all
this foreign investment, havingpeople stay there longer and all
that.
(08:58):
And for those people that say,oh, like Vietnam is dangerous,
it's a communist country.
I mean, this is not the ninetiesanymore.
Um, they used to say things likethat as well about Malaysia
because it was a Muslim country.
And it's like, no, you're notgonna enter Malaysia and, and
have issues because you, youbelieve in a different religion.
In fact.
Um, they're Malaysia's one ofthe most liberal of the Muslim
(09:20):
nations and, and they also havesome of the most open visa
policies of any country in theworld.
And you can, you can do prettymuch whatever you want there,
like within reason.
But they're very, uh, they'revery open and supportive just
like they are in Vietnam.
Vietnam, you can do whatever youwant as long as you don't
criticize, you know, theirgovernment, their religion, um,
then you're gonna probably, youknow, that their politics,
(09:42):
whatever it is, then you'reprobably gonna gonna run into
some heat.
But that's the same thinganywhere.
Like we're in Mexico now asAmericans.
We don't go on the streetsprotesting the things that we
maybe don't believe in or don'tlove about the Mexican
government because that wouldn'tbe very smart.
Right, exactly.
It just wouldn't be a smartthing to do.
And when you live theentrepreneur expat lifestyle or
the global citizenshiplifestyle, you didn't, you do
(10:03):
tend to float.
Above a lot of issues going onin multiple countries'cause they
just don't affect you as much.
And one interesting thing aboutVietnam that a lot of people may
not know,'cause we went down theVietnam rabbit hole over the
weekend when this news came out,is, um, it's actually an open
economy.
Mm-hmm.
And that's one of the reasonswhy they, it's open ish.
(10:25):
Yeah.
Um, but that's the reason whythey want the foreign investors
coming in.
They want investors in realestate, manufacturing business.
All those kinds of things.
So, uh, why Vietnam?
Because I think it's one ofthose countries that, you know,
in the expat spaces, we'restarting to see videos about
Vietnam all the time, like inthe last year or so.
But 10, 15 years ago, no onewould've ever said, yeah, you
(10:47):
know what, I'm looking to moveto Vietnam.
Yeah, I mean, that's, that's,that's very true.
And.
In, in the nineties, in, in theearly two thousands, like the,
the economy was not anywherenear what it is today.
You didn't have necessarily thesame type of infrastructure, uh,
security in terms of the jobsof, of local people.
(11:08):
It was still in disarray and inmany ways and, and in big part
recovering from the war that wasthere thanks to, um, you know,
certain western nations.
Right.
Um, we won't go into that rightnow, but.
It's, it's a, it's total nightand day compared to what it was,
10, 15, 20, 30 years ago.
And in addition to that, it'sstill not at the level, let's
(11:33):
say that maybe Thailand is.
And so what we've heard a lot,um, doing our, our research and
hearing from people that havelived there, when you go to
someplace like Thailand, incomparison, Thailand has already
been.
I don't wanna say colonized bythe, the tourists and expats,
because that's not the rightword, but some Thai people might
(11:55):
say something to that effect.
Is it just, it's received a tonof, uh, foreign interest
investment.
Americans going there, uh,living there, buying properties.
Even though you can't like fullybuy it, you need certain type
of, uh, like lease hold deals.
Um, because you can't own theland in most cases in Thailand,
but there, there's still moreopportunities for foreign
(12:16):
investment.
But people are so accustomed tothe foreigners that a lot of
the, the country has been shapedaround that instead of perhaps
maintaining a bunch of, its, itssort of native appeal versus
when you look at Vietnam,because it is, even though it's
got the infrastructure, it's notfully catered to foreigners yet.
And everything we've beenhearing is that you can get a
(12:38):
lot more of that.
Really frontier vibe, like thenative cultural experience.
Granted, it's going to be moredifficult if you don't speak the
native language.
For example, in, in Thailand,especially in some of the more
touristy cities, uh, likeBangkok or or Chiang Mai, where
there are a lot of foreigners.
People are speaking a lot ofEnglish compared to Vietnam.
(12:58):
Outside of those touristneighborhoods, you'll find some
English, but you're gonna wannaattempt to learn Vietnamese even
though it's, it's a difficultlanguage to learn if you truly
want to blend in.
But just by learning, not blendin, but, but, but to fit, into,
integrate, to integrate intothis society.
And we would have a hard timeblending it in Vietnam for sure.
(13:20):
Mexico, maybe Vietnam, probablynot.
Um, but.
In order to integrate, you dohave to at least make an, an
effort to learn some more of alanguage.
But they say that even just bydoing that to a, to a small
extent, um, you can make friendsa lot more easily because
there's, there isn't thatbarrier of like, okay, you're a,
you're a tourist.
We're a local, we're gonna likecater to you and speak your
(13:43):
language.
It's just, again, it's morestill tied to its roots and it's
more, what would you call it,like more real.
Authentic.
Maybe Authentic, yeah.
More of an authentic experience.
That's what we've been hearing.
We haven't been to Vietnam, uh,lately, but that's, that's what
we've been hearing from a lot ofpeople.
Yeah.
So other reasons why people areinterested in Vietnam?
The obvious one is low cost ofliving term.
It's one of the cheapestcountries actually in the world
(14:05):
to go and live as an expat, atleast in terms of the countries
that, that you would want to goto, right?
We're not talking about NorthKorea here, um, or, or
elsewhere, right?
But in terms of the.
Um, the emerging markets thatare, that are safe, that have
the, the necessaryinfrastructure and everything
else, um, very low.
(14:26):
Cost of living for a highquality of life.
Yeah.
I mean, people were living verywell.
We were watching videos andpeople were living very, very
well on 500 bucks a month.
So you might wanna see likeMexico is like maybe 50% of what
US would be.
And then, you know, Vietnam,Thailand, Southeast Asia is like
half of what Mexico would be,which is why we tell a lot of
our Mexican friends who areinterested in, I'm not great at
(14:47):
math.
What is that?
30% of?
It's like 30.
It's like.
So you said half.
Yeah.
So Mexico is like half the costof living of the United States,
right?
Ish.
And then Southeast Asia is abouthalf the cost of living of
Mexico.
So 25% roughly.
I would say that's about right.
You're better at numbers.
I would say no.
I would say actually it's lessthan, I would say it's less than
(15:08):
half the cost of Mexico becausefor like a, a, you know, a nice
three story house here, we'repaying a little under a thousand
USD per month in Vietnam, thesame thing would be like closer
to.
400, I think the apartments aregoing for two to 300 a month.
Yeah, depending on the city.
And these are in the touristareas.
We're not really in a supertouristy area in Mexico.
(15:28):
So I would argue that onaverage, maybe it's about 40% of
the cost of Mexico, like 30 to40%.
So you're talking roughly.
Uh, as, as little as a, aquarter of what you're spending
to live in the US and if, ifyou're willing to live in town
and not by the beach, maybe evenless, like maybe a fifth or
(15:49):
less.
And, and that's like eating out.
I mean, you can get meals therein Vietnam, like even in, in
Danang for as little as$2, um,for the like traditional
Vietnamese food and here thesame kind of thing.
I mean, you could get two tacosfor that price in Mexico,
depending on the city.
Sure.
But we're talking about likefull sit down meal.
(16:09):
Uh, restaurant like, likeeverything.
So it, it definitely is cheaper.
The rent's cheaper, the food'scheaper.
Utilities are a lot cheaper.
Uh, they're saying that for cellphone data, you could get that
for like three or$4 a month inVietnam.
Versus here you're still paying10, 15, 20, um, depending on how
much, how much data you'reusing.
So utilities are cheaper, rent'scheaper, all that.
(16:31):
Yeah.
So we actually had a commentcome in.
I think they were Mexican.
They didn't say, but they spokeSpanish.
And we do have a lot of peoplefrom Mexico who watch this
channel.
They're like, I wish I could sitat home.
And earn in dollars.
And I'm like, you can, right?
We know people from multiplecountries who are doing that,
but I've also had conversationswith a lot of our Mexican
friends who are like, even ifyou earn in pesos or Mexican
(16:53):
pesos, for example, you can goto a country with a lower cost
of living than Mexico, workonline and do the exact same
thing that we we're doing.
Absolutely, yeah.
The dollars.
Yeah.
You could, you could go toColumbia and have a, a better.
Um, ratio of your, your incometo expenses there because of the
currency arbitrage.
So the other reason why peopleare very interested in Vietnam
is because the global southarea, which is that Southeast
(17:15):
Asian area, is growing veryrapidly in terms of development.
And we are seeing a lot ofbusiness and investment
opportunities show up.
I mean, apple was looking atVietnam, for example, and in the
case of Vietnam, it's startingat kind of a lower base.
Uh, because it took Vietnam along time to recover from said
(17:35):
war.
So you could say that they're alittle bit behind their
neighbors, uh, insofar as thedevelopment, but they spent the
last, you know, 15, 20 yearsreally focusing hard on really
bringing up the manufacturingand all those things in Vietnam.
If you're watching from theUnited States, you've probably
bought a shirt that says, madein Vietnam.
Uh, for example, I bet this oneis.
(17:56):
Wanna check.
Is it?
Lemme see.
I don't know.
What does it say?
It says made in China.
So, no, not Vietnam closeenough.
But I definitely have a lot ofthings in my closet that were
made there.
Um, so one of the things that'sinteresting is Vietnam, because
it's starting at a lower base.
For those of you who are moreadventurous, it could be a
really good opportunity forthose of you who like more, you
(18:19):
know, frontier emerging market.
Type of stuff.
It seems that there is a lot ofopportunity there, um,
especially as the countrycontinues to develop and I
think, you know, in terms of whyVietnam, you know, 15, 20 years
ago, nobody would've said that.
It's the exact same thing wekeep saying on this channel over
and over and over again,particularly to the Americans,
the Canadians, and the WesternEuropeans.
(18:41):
You're getting competition now.
Right.
Whereas in the past, uh,particularly with the United
States, there was nocompetition.
No one would've ever dreamed ofbeing living in Vietnam or even
Mexico like 30 years ago.
Mm-hmm.
The way that people are doing itnow, or Africa, we're seeing
more and more people move toAfrica.
But we're seeing all thesecountries around the world
(19:01):
really starting to, uh, developwell, number one, many of them
have already developed veryquickly where you can get a
similar quality of life that youwould in the United States, and
then the others like Vietnam areon their way.
So, you know, you have moreoptions in the world now than
you would've had 30 years ago ifyou are, for example, an
American watching this.
Um, and I think a lot ofAmericans don't know that.
(19:24):
Like people outside of theUnited States know that.
I've been having thatconversation with a lot of
Mexican friends and they'relike, yeah, when Americans don't
realize is other countries havebeen catching up and it's
nipping up their heels.
And this, this ties into whatthe US' greatest export ever
actually is, which isentertainment.
The, the United States greatestexport is Hollywood.
(19:44):
If it wasn't for all theentertainment that they put out
into the world, I mean, the USwould not be as, as safe or
popular on the world stage as itis now.
And that's not even saying muchbecause as you can see, uh, and
it's hard to, it's hard to tellwhen you're in the us but the
more you travel, you realize.
These, uh, quote, legacy brandcountries as our friend nomad
(20:05):
capitalist says, are notactually as powerful on the
world stage as the media IEHollywood and all of the
narratives that, that are withinthese countries are trying to
get you to believe.
Um, and they use media and they,they use this, this like social,
um.
(20:26):
What's, what's the word?
I I, I'll say social contagion,soft power.
I mean, they're, they're softpower.
Soft power.
It's influence.
Yeah.
To convince you that everywhereoutside of these countries is
bad and everywhere inside isgood.
I'll give you a specificexample.
I know that the Trumpgovernment, for example, was
having a few rifts with the,with the Colombian government.
And whether this is related ornot, I can't say for sure, but
(20:47):
the State Department recentlyissued a level four travel
advisory for a bunch ofdifferent areas in Columbia.
Like they're telling people notto go even to Medellin, which
granted Meine is not the safestcity in the world.
Um, it's a lot safer than someareas of major US cities.
But the point is.
They're leveraging the powerthat they have of you as a
(21:08):
citizen and the media andeverything else to convince you
that everywhere outside of theborders of the US or Canada or
wherever you are in WesternEurope is bad and unsafe, and
it's simply not true.
And the world is becoming moreand more multipolar every day.
And if you're thinking aboutleaving the US because you're
(21:28):
tired of the.
Expenses, the cost of gas, thecost of insurance, the, the, the
crappy medical care that you getthere and, and all of the other
things.
Food going up, rent going up,healthcare not working, none,
none of the systems working.
A lot of business regulations.
We had a comment come in, uh,not long ago from, we get this
(21:50):
from both Canadians andAmericans, although I will say
we probably get it more from theCanadians, if I'm being honest,
which is just overregulation andthey're not able to actually
have profitable businesses.
As a result of it.
So then they have to pivot andfind other things to do.
And that is also happening inthe United States.
Depending on what state you'rein, it's worse than others, but
it's definitely happening thereas well.
(22:11):
It's impossible to do businessin California.
You you're paying an$800 a yearfranchise tax, the healthcare
costs are going up.
Um, you have to, as arestaurant, you have to not only
charge massive, basicallymassive tips and pass those
costs on to your clients, butthen also in LA the clients.
The customers of the restauranthave to pay for the healthcare
of employees.
(22:31):
The costs are going through theroof.
Insurance is going through theroof, property taxes, business
taxes, and they don't even havewater and fire hydrants, and the
fire hydrants are empty.
The roads are are full ofpotholes.
The roads that we drive on everyday in Guadalajara are better
than most of the freeways thatwe've been on, been on in.
Most parts of Los AngelesCounty.
It's mind blowing.
(22:52):
And you know, you guys areprobably in your head.
I've heard, I've heard they'rethinking, okay, we're just
Overhyping Mexico and Mexicoisn't that great?
I mean, Mexico is pretty good,but it's, it's not about how
good Mexico is.
It's about.
Being in this pot as a boilingfrog and not realizing how much
things are getting dangerous andexpensive and overly controlled
(23:15):
every single day until it's toolate.
And it's not just Mexico becauseone of the things I did see from
the expats in Vietnam, bringingit back to Vietnam.
Is that they actually havepretty good roads in Vietnam
because the government investedin infrastructure and in a lot
of these emerging countries, yousee governments invested
massively into infrastructure.
Whereas in Western countries,they're not really doing that,
(23:36):
uh, anymore, which is why a lotof they're investing in
infrastructure, justinfrastructure in Ukraine.
Oh, well that's a differentstory.
Or other countries that aren't,yeah.
United States or Germany, orCanada.
By the way, Ukrainian, just,just for the record, so before
you start talking shit, mymother was born in Odessa and I
still, you know, I'm like, okay,great.
Yeah, you wanna share money,share the wealth with other
(23:58):
countries, perfectly fine.
Don't do it to, to fuelpolitical agendas, but hey,
maybe help the homeless peopleon our own streets first.
Or maybe fix the roads, fix thefreeways.
I don't know.
Like there's potholes that I'veseen in San Diego, bigger than
the ones in Tijuana, and it'smind blowing, like you gotta
take care of your own peoplefirst.
So bringing it back to Vietnamand the newer visas and why
(24:20):
people are interested in it, Iguess Vietnam had visas before
for investors, but they were farmore restrictive.
So one of the things thatthey're proposing.
Is that in these new, uh, visaprograms, by investment it's
gonna be a lot more passive.
So I guess what you have to dobefore is you had to have very
active business ties in thecountry of Vietnam in order to
(24:42):
qualify.
And now it seems that one of thethings they're proposing is
actually loosening that up.
So it could be like a realestate investment and you don't
even necessarily like livethere.
We don't know, like we said,that's speculation at this
point.
'cause we don't have theofficial.
Numbers or anything like that.
But that is something that'svery appealing to people who,
for example, wanna lower cost ofliving.
(25:02):
Uh, they're interested inSoutheast Asia.
Uh, they have some money toinvest.
They're interested in a companythat's develop, uh, in a
country.
I.
That is developing very quickly.
Um, and they feel like they canget some yields out of that and
then now potentially not have tobe so active in the country as
they were before so they cankeep it moving, basically.
(25:23):
Which a lot of people interestedin these things like to keep it
moving.
Exactly.
They don't wanna necessarilyjust stay in one country, put
all of their money in thatcountry, uh, even though Vietnam
is having some pretty goodyields on, uh, on their savings
accounts, like up to 7%, whichis.
Several points higher than whatyou would get, uh, in the US
even with like high yieldsavings.
So that's something to be awareof.
In Mexico, we have bank accountsthat, uh, are earning as much as
(25:46):
10% interest or more just forsavings, like pure savings.
So there are really goodinvestment opportunities outside
of the us.
Yeah, so that's basically what'sgoing on with Vietnam.
A lot of you were bringing upVietnam in the Commons last
week, and then everywhere wewent on YouTube there was.
Vietnam.
So, and then they made theannouncement, uh, a few weeks
ago that they are actuallyconsidering more long-term stay
(26:09):
visas, which was an issuebefore.
For all the expats that wereinterested, when are they gonna
officially launch this?
We don't know.
They're piloting, piloting it inthe major cities like Hanoi and
Ong.
Um, so we'll just have to waitand see what happens and when we
have more information, we willbring it to you guys.
So make sure to subscribe andhit the notification bell so you
don't miss any of the updates.
(26:29):
Uh, we are currently living inMexico, so you'll see a lot
about Mexico, but we keep tabson different countries because
to be honest, it's quite afascinating topic.
You're never bored.
Absolutely.
And if, if you're looking to getmore advice and some one-on-one
help on your journey movingoverseas, don't forget to go to
entrepreneur expat.com/consultand you'll see all the
(26:52):
information there to be able tobook that consult with us or our
team, and we can support youalong the journey.
Uh, whether it's saving money onthose taxes, we have
professionals for that.
Getting your visas, uh, figuringout how to find real estate, we
actually are building aninternational MLS system as we
speak.
So when you're on our emaillist, uh, you'll be notified of
(27:13):
that.
Uh, as well, you'll be the firstto know.
Uh, so definitely connect withus and, you know, find us on on
LinkedIn, Instagram as well.
Um, we're happy to, we're happyto chat and help you along your
journey.
Thanks so much for giving usyour time today, and we'll catch
you guys on the next one.
Vietnam is a country that's making a lot of
(00:02):
buzz in the expat spaces.
The city of Da Nang, a favoriteamong expats, has seen
tremendous growth in the lastcouple of years, and was even
featured in 2024 as one of thetop places to visit by Conde
Nast.
There was just one slightproblem.
It was almost impossible to getresidency.
Expats would have to do visaruns every 90 days, which can
(00:23):
get very complicated andexpensive, and the visas that
they had available forinvestment were actually quite
restrictive in comparison towhat neighboring countries were
offering.
Well, it seems that Vietnam islooking to make some changes to
their immigration system.
And they just proposed a newgolden visa that would actually
give you residency.
(00:43):
Welcome to Entrepreneur Expat.
I'm Amanda.
This is Justin.
And on this channel we talkabout being digital nomads,
investing internationally,international real estate visas,
residencies, global citizenship,and making money from anywhere
in the world.
So if that's something thatyou're interested in, make sure
to subscribe and hit thenotification bell so you don't
miss a single video that we havecoming out on this channel.
(01:05):
We have several videos comingout a week.
To keep you up to date on allthe things going on all around
the world.
And also make sure to give thisvideo a like, because we have a
mission to get in front of 1million entrepreneur expats or
aspiring expats.
And if you're looking to getpersonalized support on your
moving abroad journey.
Then just go to entrepreneurexpat.com/consult and you can
(01:28):
talk with Amanda or myself or amember of our team one-on-one,
talk about the challenges thatyou're facing, whether it comes
to residency, tax planning, thelogistics of moving abroad, all
those different things we haveyou covered.
And we've got a team ofinternational experts all around
the world that help with thetaxes, the immigration, and
everything else.
So.
You can getthat@entrepreneurexpat.com slash
(01:50):
consult.
There's gonna be all theinformation that you need to
schedule that call with us.
So here is what's happening withVietnam, which I find very
interesting because, um,actually a lot of our commenters
and subscribers, a last week onsome of our videos, we're
bringing up Vietnam as anoption.
And a lot of people were saying,yeah, you know, I would love to
do Vietnam as an option inSoutheast Asia, but I don't want
(02:13):
to do those Visa runs, well, itseems that Vietnam, I don't know
if they're paying attention toall our YouTube comments in the
expat spaces, but it does seemthat Vietnam is seeing an
opportunity to really grow thecountry.
And one of the ways in whichthey want to do it is they want
more long-term tourists.
They want more.
Residents, uh, they want morereturning travelers and also
(02:36):
they want a lot of foreigninvestment to get pumped into
their economy.
They're seeing countries likeMalaysia, uh, and Thailand and
Indonesia really starting togrow very quickly in the region,
and they're realizing, whoa, weneed to compete.
So it seems that the minister ofthe tourism board in Vietnam
(02:58):
made a suggestion to the PrimeMinister proposing some new
visas that would allow people toget a long-term residency visa
in Vietnam, uh, make it a littlebit more flexible than what they
previously had available.
And in addition to that, bring alot of foreign investment into
(03:18):
the country.
And the idea is they're gonnapilot it in the major cities
like Hanoi and Ang Ong, Ang, noone knows how to pronounce it.
Vietnam.
Vietnam is hard.
Something like that.
Danang.
That Danang.
I went down a lot of rabbitholes about Vietnam.
Yeah, we, we tried to get thepronunciation right.
We tried, and I, I, the, the,the complicated thing about
(03:39):
Vietnamese, there's a little,little sidebar, I mean.
We learned Spanish prettyeasily.
I learned it in my three yearsof living in Columbia.
But Spanish and English, interms of like the pronunciation,
I mean, it's phonetic and it'srelatively easy to get, uh, at
least the pronunciation if you,if you learn English.
But Vietnamese in terms of allthe different, it's, it's
similar to, to, to Chinese andthe fact that there's different.
(04:01):
Uh, same kind of word writtenout, but just a different accent
mark.
And it's a totally differentpronunciation.
So we're still looking into, uh,maybe maybe learning a little
bit of Vietnamese now becausemaybe we'll be going, uh, to
Southeast Asia very soon and,and making a stop in, in Danang,
uh, as, as one of our, one ofour first stops.
Yeah, it definitely seems likeit's growing very quickly.
(04:22):
So what is, what are the visasthat they actually proposed?
And when we say proposed, noneof this stuff is.
For certain, yet we don't evenhave numbers.
So some of the numbers thatwe're gonna be giving you is
just total speculation based onwhat's going on in the
surrounding area.
Because at this point it's justa proposal and we don't know how
(04:43):
quickly they're gonna move onthis.
So here are the three Visaoptions that Vietnam is
proposing.
The first one is a 10 yeargolden visa, and this is for
serious investors, entrepreneursplanning a long-term stay in
Vietnam.
After that, you have the 10 yearinvestor visa.
This one gives you the abilityto become a permanent resident
(05:03):
after five years.
And it's very similar to thefirst in that it's for investors
looking to establish a long-termpresence in the country.
And now we don't really know,like Amanda said, all of the
specifics because this is stillreally like underground.
They haven't come out with thenumbers, they haven't finalized
any of this.
Uh, this is just what we'rehearing in terms of what is in
(05:25):
the works there.
So maybe they're, they're gonnarelease this.
In the next year or two, but we,we can't know for sure until it
actually happens.
Now, the third type of visa thatthey have is the special talent
visa, and this one is targetinghighly skilled professionals
that can enhance the workforcethere in Vietnam.
And like we said, we don't knowexactly what the numbers yet.
(05:46):
But most likely, from what we'veheard through the grapevine,
it's probably going to be a sixfigure investment to be able to
get these kinds of visas.
These are for people that havegot a lot of income and or a lot
of savings and.
Just are really frustrated withall the, the tourist runs, like
the border runs that they haveto make to neighbor neighboring
(06:07):
countries like Thailand orCambodia in order to renew that
90 day tourist visa that theyget on arrival.
So if you're wealthy and youwant to have just more certainty
and security in terms of yourstay in the country, maybe gain
a return on your investment aswell by investing in the
country, which is growing veryrapidly than these types of
visas will be.
(06:28):
For you.
One plausible scenario thatpeople were talking about is,
let's say for example, you dothe investor visa and then
they're like, okay, well you caninvest in real estate and then
we'll give you the residencybased on the numbers going on in
neighboring countries likeThailand, Indonesia, and
Malaysia.
They're saying Vietnam.
We might be looking at aninvestment of, for example,
(06:48):
$150,000.
In real estate and then thatwould get you the residency.
But of course we, we don't know.
And what happens in emergingcountries sometimes is like
either they can move veryquickly on things or they can
take forever.
So depending on how much money'son the table and who's asking
Exactly.
Uh, and one of the things that'sgoing on with Vietnam, I think
(07:10):
they're realizing that there's alot of money, uh, on the table.
And I know there's a lot ofdebate in Vietnam, in Mexico, in
Portugal, in a lot of countries.
Saying, okay, well now thecountry's gonna get inundated
with foreigners.
And it seems that most of thegovernments in these countries
want the foreigners because thatbrings in a lot of, uh,
investment into the country.
So the downside is that itwould, uh, bring the housing
(07:33):
costs up because it's a simplesupply and demand issue at the
end of the day.
And we are seeing that happen inVietnam with more foreigners
going there.
But the upside is that there'smore money circulating in the
economy, which means more jobs.
Uh, in Vietnam for theVietnamese people.
So a lot of these governmentsare realizing, wow, if I really
wanna compete on this globalstage, uh, I gotta get really
(07:55):
competitive with what's going onwith these residencies, these
visas, who I'm allowing in, uh,what the requirements are, so on
and so forth.
So it seems that Vietnam'sjoining the game.
Yeah, and I'll, I'll speculatetoo and say that because they're
a socialist country, I mean, tosome extent communists, but they
call themselves a socialist.
Uh, a socialist country andtypically in countries like
(08:18):
that, they tend to be a littlebit, uh, a little bit slower to
embrace foreign investment to,to embrace foreign cultures
coming in and, and potentiallylike affecting their people or
their beliefs because the statewants to have a, a certain
degree of.
Uh, shall we say, control orauthority?
Now, on the flip side of that,Vietnamese people tend to be
(08:38):
very welcoming to Westerners.
Um, also very welcoming, like totheir belief system.
And I think the key for theVietnamese government is really
to balance.
Unwarranted foreign influence,if you will, to all of the
potential for making money thatthey have by bringing in all
this foreign investment, havingpeople stay there longer and all
that.
(08:58):
And for those people that say,oh, like Vietnam is dangerous,
it's a communist country.
I mean, this is not the ninetiesanymore.
Um, they used to say things likethat as well about Malaysia
because it was a Muslim country.
And it's like, no, you're notgonna enter Malaysia and, and
have issues because you, youbelieve in a different religion.
In fact.
Um, they're Malaysia's one ofthe most liberal of the Muslim
(09:20):
nations and, and they also havesome of the most open visa
policies of any country in theworld.
And you can, you can do prettymuch whatever you want there,
like within reason.
But they're very, uh, they'revery open and supportive just
like they are in Vietnam.
Vietnam, you can do whatever youwant as long as you don't
criticize, you know, theirgovernment, their religion, um,
then you're gonna probably, youknow, that their politics,
(09:42):
whatever it is, then you'reprobably gonna gonna run into
some heat.
But that's the same thinganywhere.
Like we're in Mexico now asAmericans.
We don't go on the streetsprotesting the things that we
maybe don't believe in or don'tlove about the Mexican
government because that wouldn'tbe very smart.
Right, exactly.
It just wouldn't be a smartthing to do.
And when you live theentrepreneur expat lifestyle or
the global citizenshiplifestyle, you didn't, you do
(10:03):
tend to float.
Above a lot of issues going onin multiple countries'cause they
just don't affect you as much.
And one interesting thing aboutVietnam that a lot of people may
not know,'cause we went down theVietnam rabbit hole over the
weekend when this news came out,is, um, it's actually an open
economy.
Mm-hmm.
And that's one of the reasonswhy they, it's open ish.
(10:25):
Yeah.
Um, but that's the reason whythey want the foreign investors
coming in.
They want investors in realestate, manufacturing business.
All those kinds of things.
So, uh, why Vietnam?
Because I think it's one ofthose countries that, you know,
in the expat spaces, we'restarting to see videos about
Vietnam all the time, like inthe last year or so.
But 10, 15 years ago, no onewould've ever said, yeah, you
(10:47):
know what, I'm looking to moveto Vietnam.
Yeah, I mean, that's, that's,that's very true.
And.
In, in the nineties, in, in theearly two thousands, like the,
the economy was not anywherenear what it is today.
You didn't have necessarily thesame type of infrastructure, uh,
security in terms of the jobsof, of local people.
(11:08):
It was still in disarray and inmany ways and, and in big part
recovering from the war that wasthere thanks to, um, you know,
certain western nations.
Right.
Um, we won't go into that rightnow, but.
It's, it's a, it's total nightand day compared to what it was,
10, 15, 20, 30 years ago.
And in addition to that, it'sstill not at the level, let's
(11:33):
say that maybe Thailand is.
And so what we've heard a lot,um, doing our, our research and
hearing from people that havelived there, when you go to
someplace like Thailand, incomparison, Thailand has already
been.
I don't wanna say colonized bythe, the tourists and expats,
because that's not the rightword, but some Thai people might
(11:55):
say something to that effect.
Is it just, it's received a tonof, uh, foreign interest
investment.
Americans going there, uh,living there, buying properties.
Even though you can't like fullybuy it, you need certain type
of, uh, like lease hold deals.
Um, because you can't own theland in most cases in Thailand,
but there, there's still moreopportunities for foreign
(12:16):
investment.
But people are so accustomed tothe foreigners that a lot of
the, the country has been shapedaround that instead of perhaps
maintaining a bunch of, its, itssort of native appeal versus
when you look at Vietnam,because it is, even though it's
got the infrastructure, it's notfully catered to foreigners yet.
And everything we've beenhearing is that you can get a
(12:38):
lot more of that.
Really frontier vibe, like thenative cultural experience.
Granted, it's going to be moredifficult if you don't speak the
native language.
For example, in, in Thailand,especially in some of the more
touristy cities, uh, likeBangkok or or Chiang Mai, where
there are a lot of foreigners.
People are speaking a lot ofEnglish compared to Vietnam.
(12:58):
Outside of those touristneighborhoods, you'll find some
English, but you're gonna wannaattempt to learn Vietnamese even
though it's, it's a difficultlanguage to learn if you truly
want to blend in.
But just by learning, not blendin, but, but, but to fit, into,
integrate, to integrate intothis society.
And we would have a hard timeblending it in Vietnam for sure.
(13:20):
Mexico, maybe Vietnam, probablynot.
Um, but.
In order to integrate, you dohave to at least make an, an
effort to learn some more of alanguage.
But they say that even just bydoing that to a, to a small
extent, um, you can make friendsa lot more easily because
there's, there isn't thatbarrier of like, okay, you're a,
you're a tourist.
We're a local, we're gonna likecater to you and speak your
(13:43):
language.
It's just, again, it's morestill tied to its roots and it's
more, what would you call it,like more real.
Authentic.
Maybe Authentic, yeah.
More of an authentic experience.
That's what we've been hearing.
We haven't been to Vietnam, uh,lately, but that's, that's what
we've been hearing from a lot ofpeople.
Yeah.
So other reasons why people areinterested in Vietnam?
The obvious one is low cost ofliving term.
It's one of the cheapestcountries actually in the world
(14:05):
to go and live as an expat, atleast in terms of the countries
that, that you would want to goto, right?
We're not talking about NorthKorea here, um, or, or
elsewhere, right?
But in terms of the.
Um, the emerging markets thatare, that are safe, that have
the, the necessaryinfrastructure and everything
else, um, very low.
(14:26):
Cost of living for a highquality of life.
Yeah.
I mean, people were living verywell.
We were watching videos andpeople were living very, very
well on 500 bucks a month.
So you might wanna see likeMexico is like maybe 50% of what
US would be.
And then, you know, Vietnam,Thailand, Southeast Asia is like
half of what Mexico would be,which is why we tell a lot of
our Mexican friends who areinterested in, I'm not great at
(14:47):
math.
What is that?
30% of?
It's like 30.
It's like.
So you said half.
Yeah.
So Mexico is like half the costof living of the United States,
right?
Ish.
And then Southeast Asia is abouthalf the cost of living of
Mexico.
So 25% roughly.
I would say that's about right.
You're better at numbers.
I would say no.
I would say actually it's lessthan, I would say it's less than
(15:08):
half the cost of Mexico becausefor like a, a, you know, a nice
three story house here, we'repaying a little under a thousand
USD per month in Vietnam, thesame thing would be like closer
to.
400, I think the apartments aregoing for two to 300 a month.
Yeah, depending on the city.
And these are in the touristareas.
We're not really in a supertouristy area in Mexico.
(15:28):
So I would argue that onaverage, maybe it's about 40% of
the cost of Mexico, like 30 to40%.
So you're talking roughly.
Uh, as, as little as a, aquarter of what you're spending
to live in the US and if, ifyou're willing to live in town
and not by the beach, maybe evenless, like maybe a fifth or
(15:49):
less.
And, and that's like eating out.
I mean, you can get meals therein Vietnam, like even in, in
Danang for as little as$2, um,for the like traditional
Vietnamese food and here thesame kind of thing.
I mean, you could get two tacosfor that price in Mexico,
depending on the city.
Sure.
But we're talking about likefull sit down meal.
(16:09):
Uh, restaurant like, likeeverything.
So it, it definitely is cheaper.
The rent's cheaper, the food'scheaper.
Utilities are a lot cheaper.
Uh, they're saying that for cellphone data, you could get that
for like three or$4 a month inVietnam.
Versus here you're still paying10, 15, 20, um, depending on how
much, how much data you'reusing.
So utilities are cheaper, rent'scheaper, all that.
(16:31):
Yeah.
So we actually had a commentcome in.
I think they were Mexican.
They didn't say, but they spokeSpanish.
And we do have a lot of peoplefrom Mexico who watch this
channel.
They're like, I wish I could sitat home.
And earn in dollars.
And I'm like, you can, right?
We know people from multiplecountries who are doing that,
but I've also had conversationswith a lot of our Mexican
friends who are like, even ifyou earn in pesos or Mexican
(16:53):
pesos, for example, you can goto a country with a lower cost
of living than Mexico, workonline and do the exact same
thing that we we're doing.
Absolutely, yeah.
The dollars.
Yeah.
You could, you could go toColumbia and have a, a better.
Um, ratio of your, your incometo expenses there because of the
currency arbitrage.
So the other reason why peopleare very interested in Vietnam
is because the global southarea, which is that Southeast
(17:15):
Asian area, is growing veryrapidly in terms of development.
And we are seeing a lot ofbusiness and investment
opportunities show up.
I mean, apple was looking atVietnam, for example, and in the
case of Vietnam, it's startingat kind of a lower base.
Uh, because it took Vietnam along time to recover from said
(17:35):
war.
So you could say that they're alittle bit behind their
neighbors, uh, insofar as thedevelopment, but they spent the
last, you know, 15, 20 yearsreally focusing hard on really
bringing up the manufacturingand all those things in Vietnam.
If you're watching from theUnited States, you've probably
bought a shirt that says, madein Vietnam.
Uh, for example, I bet this oneis.
(17:56):
Wanna check.
Is it?
Lemme see.
I don't know.
What does it say?
It says made in China.
So, no, not Vietnam closeenough.
But I definitely have a lot ofthings in my closet that were
made there.
Um, so one of the things that'sinteresting is Vietnam, because
it's starting at a lower base.
For those of you who are moreadventurous, it could be a
really good opportunity forthose of you who like more, you
(18:19):
know, frontier emerging market.
Type of stuff.
It seems that there is a lot ofopportunity there, um,
especially as the countrycontinues to develop and I
think, you know, in terms of whyVietnam, you know, 15, 20 years
ago, nobody would've said that.
It's the exact same thing wekeep saying on this channel over
and over and over again,particularly to the Americans,
the Canadians, and the WesternEuropeans.
(18:41):
You're getting competition now.
Right.
Whereas in the past, uh,particularly with the United
States, there was nocompetition.
No one would've ever dreamed ofbeing living in Vietnam or even
Mexico like 30 years ago.
Mm-hmm.
The way that people are doing itnow, or Africa, we're seeing
more and more people move toAfrica.
But we're seeing all thesecountries around the world
(19:01):
really starting to, uh, developwell, number one, many of them
have already developed veryquickly where you can get a
similar quality of life that youwould in the United States, and
then the others like Vietnam areon their way.
So, you know, you have moreoptions in the world now than
you would've had 30 years ago ifyou are, for example, an
American watching this.
Um, and I think a lot ofAmericans don't know that.
(19:24):
Like people outside of theUnited States know that.
I've been having thatconversation with a lot of
Mexican friends and they'relike, yeah, when Americans don't
realize is other countries havebeen catching up and it's
nipping up their heels.
And this, this ties into whatthe US' greatest export ever
actually is, which isentertainment.
The, the United States greatestexport is Hollywood.
(19:44):
If it wasn't for all theentertainment that they put out
into the world, I mean, the USwould not be as, as safe or
popular on the world stage as itis now.
And that's not even saying muchbecause as you can see, uh, and
it's hard to, it's hard to tellwhen you're in the us but the
more you travel, you realize.
These, uh, quote, legacy brandcountries as our friend nomad
(20:05):
capitalist says, are notactually as powerful on the
world stage as the media IEHollywood and all of the
narratives that, that are withinthese countries are trying to
get you to believe.
Um, and they use media and they,they use this, this like social,
um.
(20:26):
What's, what's the word?
I I, I'll say social contagion,soft power.
I mean, they're, they're softpower.
Soft power.
It's influence.
Yeah.
To convince you that everywhereoutside of these countries is
bad and everywhere inside isgood.
I'll give you a specificexample.
I know that the Trumpgovernment, for example, was
having a few rifts with the,with the Colombian government.
And whether this is related ornot, I can't say for sure, but
(20:47):
the State Department recentlyissued a level four travel
advisory for a bunch ofdifferent areas in Columbia.
Like they're telling people notto go even to Medellin, which
granted Meine is not the safestcity in the world.
Um, it's a lot safer than someareas of major US cities.
But the point is.
They're leveraging the powerthat they have of you as a
(21:08):
citizen and the media andeverything else to convince you
that everywhere outside of theborders of the US or Canada or
wherever you are in WesternEurope is bad and unsafe, and
it's simply not true.
And the world is becoming moreand more multipolar every day.
And if you're thinking aboutleaving the US because you're
(21:28):
tired of the.
Expenses, the cost of gas, thecost of insurance, the, the, the
crappy medical care that you getthere and, and all of the other
things.
Food going up, rent going up,healthcare not working, none,
none of the systems working.
A lot of business regulations.
We had a comment come in, uh,not long ago from, we get this
(21:50):
from both Canadians andAmericans, although I will say
we probably get it more from theCanadians, if I'm being honest,
which is just overregulation andthey're not able to actually
have profitable businesses.
As a result of it.
So then they have to pivot andfind other things to do.
And that is also happening inthe United States.
Depending on what state you'rein, it's worse than others, but
it's definitely happening thereas well.
(22:11):
It's impossible to do businessin California.
You you're paying an$800 a yearfranchise tax, the healthcare
costs are going up.
Um, you have to, as arestaurant, you have to not only
charge massive, basicallymassive tips and pass those
costs on to your clients, butthen also in LA the clients.
The customers of the restauranthave to pay for the healthcare
of employees.
(22:31):
The costs are going through theroof.
Insurance is going through theroof, property taxes, business
taxes, and they don't even havewater and fire hydrants, and the
fire hydrants are empty.
The roads are are full ofpotholes.
The roads that we drive on everyday in Guadalajara are better
than most of the freeways thatwe've been on, been on in.
Most parts of Los AngelesCounty.
It's mind blowing.
(22:52):
And you know, you guys areprobably in your head.
I've heard, I've heard they'rethinking, okay, we're just
Overhyping Mexico and Mexicoisn't that great?
I mean, Mexico is pretty good,but it's, it's not about how
good Mexico is.
It's about.
Being in this pot as a boilingfrog and not realizing how much
things are getting dangerous andexpensive and overly controlled
(23:15):
every single day until it's toolate.
And it's not just Mexico becauseone of the things I did see from
the expats in Vietnam, bringingit back to Vietnam.
Is that they actually havepretty good roads in Vietnam
because the government investedin infrastructure and in a lot
of these emerging countries, yousee governments invested
massively into infrastructure.
Whereas in Western countries,they're not really doing that,
(23:36):
uh, anymore, which is why a lotof they're investing in
infrastructure, justinfrastructure in Ukraine.
Oh, well that's a differentstory.
Or other countries that aren't,yeah.
United States or Germany, orCanada.
By the way, Ukrainian, just,just for the record, so before
you start talking shit, mymother was born in Odessa and I
still, you know, I'm like, okay,great.
Yeah, you wanna share money,share the wealth with other
(23:58):
countries, perfectly fine.
Don't do it to, to fuelpolitical agendas, but hey,
maybe help the homeless peopleon our own streets first.
Or maybe fix the roads, fix thefreeways.
I don't know.
Like there's potholes that I'veseen in San Diego, bigger than
the ones in Tijuana, and it'smind blowing, like you gotta
take care of your own peoplefirst.
So bringing it back to Vietnamand the newer visas and why
(24:20):
people are interested in it, Iguess Vietnam had visas before
for investors, but they were farmore restrictive.
So one of the things thatthey're proposing.
Is that in these new, uh, visaprograms, by investment it's
gonna be a lot more passive.
So I guess what you have to dobefore is you had to have very
active business ties in thecountry of Vietnam in order to
(24:42):
qualify.
And now it seems that one of thethings they're proposing is
actually loosening that up.
So it could be like a realestate investment and you don't
even necessarily like livethere.
We don't know, like we said,that's speculation at this
point.
'cause we don't have theofficial.
Numbers or anything like that.
But that is something that'svery appealing to people who,
for example, wanna lower cost ofliving.
(25:02):
Uh, they're interested inSoutheast Asia.
Uh, they have some money toinvest.
They're interested in a companythat's develop, uh, in a
country.
I.
That is developing very quickly.
Um, and they feel like they canget some yields out of that and
then now potentially not have tobe so active in the country as
they were before so they cankeep it moving, basically.
(25:23):
Which a lot of people interestedin these things like to keep it
moving.
Exactly.
They don't wanna necessarilyjust stay in one country, put
all of their money in thatcountry, uh, even though Vietnam
is having some pretty goodyields on, uh, on their savings
accounts, like up to 7%, whichis.
Several points higher than whatyou would get, uh, in the US
even with like high yieldsavings.
So that's something to be awareof.
In Mexico, we have bank accountsthat, uh, are earning as much as
(25:46):
10% interest or more just forsavings, like pure savings.
So there are really goodinvestment opportunities outside
of the us.
Yeah, so that's basically what'sgoing on with Vietnam.
A lot of you were bringing upVietnam in the Commons last
week, and then everywhere wewent on YouTube there was.
Vietnam.
So, and then they made theannouncement, uh, a few weeks
ago that they are actuallyconsidering more long-term stay
(26:09):
visas, which was an issuebefore.
For all the expats that wereinterested, when are they gonna
officially launch this?
We don't know.
They're piloting, piloting it inthe major cities like Hanoi and
Ong.
Um, so we'll just have to waitand see what happens and when we
have more information, we willbring it to you guys.
So make sure to subscribe andhit the notification bell so you
don't miss any of the updates.
(26:29):
Uh, we are currently living inMexico, so you'll see a lot
about Mexico, but we keep tabson different countries because
to be honest, it's quite afascinating topic.
You're never bored.
Absolutely.
And if, if you're looking to getmore advice and some one-on-one
help on your journey movingoverseas, don't forget to go to
entrepreneur expat.com/consultand you'll see all the
(26:52):
information there to be able tobook that consult with us or our
team, and we can support youalong the journey.
Uh, whether it's saving money onthose taxes, we have
professionals for that.
Getting your visas, uh, figuringout how to find real estate, we
actually are building aninternational MLS system as we
speak.
So when you're on our emaillist, uh, you'll be notified of
(27:13):
that.
Uh, as well, you'll be the firstto know.
Uh, so definitely connect withus and, you know, find us on on
LinkedIn, Instagram as well.
Um, we're happy to, we're happyto chat and help you along your
journey.
Thanks so much for giving usyour time today, and we'll catch
you guys on the next one.
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